I hope this issue is supposed to go in this forum, so here goes.

In order to minimize the load on my cpu, I set the cpu consumption down to 15% on the 5 projects that I was attached to. Unfortunately, my puter didn't finish at least one them on time, and now all of my projects are detached. How do I reattach them? Can I set something that will let my computer download work units that are completable within a certain period of time with setting my cpu consumption too high?

Thanks,
John Villegas

To reattach, in your boinc manager click on Tools then select Attach to project. You'll need to reattach as an existing user and give the same name and most importantly the same email address as before.

How long is your computer on and crunching each day? You've set it to work almost 7 times more slowly than normal crunching, so if it isn't on 24/7 it may be difficult to find projects whose workunits have long enough deadlines.

It would probably be a good idea only to have one project crunching at a time, or two projects if the computer's a dual core. This way the computer will crunch a task continuously and not switch between tasks. You can set most of the projects to No new work in the Projects tab. When you do want a workunit from that project again, click the Allow new work button.

But do you really need to set the CPU as low as 15%? My old computer was made in 2000 and has crunched almost continuously at 100% CPU since 2003. It's broken now (no fan on the graphics card and the CPU is probably fractured so it's now underclocked by 25%) but it's still crunching certain projects at 100% of what remains, day and night. In all that time it has needed one new power supply unit and a new little northbridge fan which I changed myself.

You could set the CPU % a bit higher and monitor the CPU and motherboard temperatures from time to time. If they are overheating it isn't the fault of running a workunit at 100%; something needs to be cleaned or fixed.

I have to agree here. I live in central Florida, so I can't leave all my PC's crunching all the time due to heat. However, my Mac PPC G5 has been running since I got it. It goes off when I'm on vacation, but otherwise one core runs BOINC and the other F@H 24/7, rebooting for system updates. My Linux box stays on late fall through early spring, and my windows box stays on early fall through late spring. So far, the only thing that has broke is (also) the south bridge fan on my nVidia motherboard. Since I read that happens every couple years, I bought a large heat sync.

I always recommend that if you build your own PC, always get a heat sync rated for at least one processor model up, or for low overclocking. (I upgraded my heat syncs for BOINC.) That way you're more sure that it will keep a processor pegged at 100% cool. Also, get good thermal compound and be generous in its application. Additionally, an extra cooling fan on the case, preferably blowing across the CPU fan, is a good idea. The extra case fan can be a low speed / quiet model.

If heat or power consumption are the issue, then, yes, cut the processor usage.

Thank you.......wise advice.

Thank you for confirmation and second opinion!

Hi again John

I should have mentioned that if the computer in question is a laptop, you really do need to be careful about overheating. At CPDN we recommend that members crunching on a laptop for long periods should raise the entire laptop slightly above and off the table top (not just the little feet at the back) to allow extra air flow underneath.

You can download free temperature monitoring programs like Motherboard Monitor and Everest. They allow you to look at the temperatures with the project tasks stopped and running at various CPU %s. There are plenty of crunchers on these forums (not me!) who can advise on acceptable max temps for different set-ups.